1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to rare earth trifluorides having novel morphological characteristics and to a process for the preparation of such rare earth fluorides. This invention more especially relates to rare earth trifluorides having a controlled grain size distribution.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Several methods are known to this art for the preparation of rare earth trifluorides.
Such trifluorides may be prepared by reacting an aqueous solution of hydrofluoric acid with a solution of a rare earth salt, e.g., a rare earth carbonate or oxalate, or by reacting an aqueous solution of sodium fluoride with a solution of a rare earth nitrate.
However, such techniques for the synthesis of the rare earth trifluorides produce a product having a coarse grain size. Even by grinding the product it is not possible to obtain specific particle sizes of less than one micron.